Mario Umansky has found himself embroiled in legal trouble over allegedly fraudulent PPP loans he received during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Umansky, 54, and his real estate company known simply as The Agency are accused of fraudulently obtaining $3.5 million in PPP loans during the pandemic.
Umansky, who was married to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards for 27 years until their separation in July 2023, is being sued by Realtor LLC.
The lawsuit was filed in July 2023, although, according to In touchThe court recently made this public, although Umansky (whose Netflix show Buying Beverly Hills was recently cancelled) has denied the claims.
The lawsuit alleges that the company falsified its applications for Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act loans, for which it received $3,521,153.
Mario Umansky has been embroiled in legal trouble over allegedly fraudulent PPP loans he received during the COVID-19 pandemic
Umansky, who was married to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards for 27 years until their separation in July 2023, is being sued by Realtor LLC.
The lawsuit alleges that the company falsified its applications for the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act loans, for which it received $3,521,153
The filing alleges that “both of these programs were enacted for the sole purpose of preventing employee layoffs by providing loans to businesses that were unable to repay them due to the impact of COVID-19, not to bolster or preserve the earnings of a business that had sufficient funds available to pay its employees.”
The complaint alleges that Umansky and his partner William “Billy” Rose had misrepresented their financial situation when taking out the loans, not to pay their employees but to increase their profits.
“The Agency’s earnings would have been minimally affected, if at all, because its revenue was based on a percentage of real estate transactions, typically among millionaires and billionaires, not consumers who were unable to purchase property or dine out due to COVID-19 restrictions. In fact, The Agency’s business grew tremendously during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the complaint added.
The lawsuit goes on to claim that The Agency had $6 billion in sales volume in 2019, which increased to $6.5 billion in 2020 and $11.5 billion in 2021.
Realtor LLC adds that The Agency falsely claimed that they needed these loans to pay their employees and that they exceeded the loan limit.
The Agency also applied and was accepted for “full loan forgiveness, knowing that they were not eligible for the loans in the first place.”
The Agency requested and was approved for an initial $2.3 million loan during the first round of the PPP, and a second loan of $1.1 million was also approved.
“The PPP loans were not necessary to support Defendants’ ongoing operations and pay their employees’ salaries, nor were they used for such purposes, because Defendants had ample liquidity to do so. Instead, they merely bolstered Defendants’ profits,” the lawsuit alleges.
The complaint alleges that Umansky and his partner William “Billy” Rose had misrepresented their financial situation when taking out the loans, not to pay their employees but to increase their profits.
Realtor LLC adds that The Agency falsely claimed they needed these loans to pay their employees and that they exceeded the loan limit.
A representative for The Agency responded with a statement that began: “While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, we want to emphasize that The Agency has always operated with the highest level of integrity in all aspects of our business.”
“Like many businesses, we are facing significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including layoffs and cutbacks,” the statement continued.
“Our focus has always been, and especially during this difficult period, to provide exceptional service to our customers and support our employees,” the statement added.
“The claims in this case do not reflect the reality of our operations and financial condition at the time we applied for our PPP loans, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against these baseless claims,” the statement concluded.
